illinoisowl said

I hope the same but I have to bring up that western Kentucky had a undefeated conference play 2 years ago and has anything happened to them since? We have to fill out the stand before anything because every AAC school beats us with their fan base. I know it is exciting to think about progressing up into a new conference but we need to realize that we aren't the only school in c-usa to win the championship other teams have done much better than us. The most important thing is to continue what we have started and attend the games!

Go owls!!

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I believe that our fan base has grown exponentially this season. And nationally, we keep getting bigger and bigger. We've gotten to a great spot, everyone around the country knows the name Florida Atlantic now. Theoretically, it could have taken years for us to get to this point, and we're already here. And imagine how much of household name we'll be if we knock off Akron. The Oklahoma game will be a huge tv event. By that time, anything could happen as far as our popularity. What if we win or at least put up a good showing. I love the quality of football our team plays. I don't know if anyone can slow down our offense. I'm hoping by September there will be articles about us moving up conferences.

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jgf2017 said

I believe that our fan base has grown exponentially this season. And nationally, we keep getting bigger and bigger. We've gotten to a great spot, everyone around the country knows the name Florida Atlantic now. Theoretically, it could have taken years for us to get to this point, and we're already here. And imagine how much of household name we'll be if we knock off Akron. The Oklahoma game will be a huge tv event. By that time, anything could happen as far as our popularity. What if we win or at least put up a good showing. I love the quality of football our team plays. I don't know if anyone can slow down our offense. I'm hoping by September there will be articles about us moving up conferences.

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Sustained success next year (and hopefully the years after that) will get more people's attention. We still have the issue where we're winning but people are going, "Yeah but look who they played" because that's what they always say.

In order to get ranked we have to be undefeated (or 1 loss)orBeat ranked opponents

That's always been the same.

And having one or even two good seasons isn't going to be enough to move us anywhere - look at WKU. Look at Marshall.

If we truly want to move out of this conference in the future, we not only have to boost our academic profile and build facilities at the level expected of that conference, but we have to bring enough fans to generate the revenue so we're not seen as "diluting the pot."

That could easily take a decade… and that's provided we continue to win and find the money to invest in all the capital projects we would need. If Kiffin leaves next year and we hire another dud, we're right back into Obscurityville.

Literally the most important hire we'll ever make (since Schnellenberger) is the person after Kiffin, whenever that may be.

P.S. I don't respond to guest posts. All guests are encouraged to register with the site.

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Owl2Doc said

Sustained success next year (and hopefully the years after that) will get more people's attention. We still have the issue where we're winning but people are going, "Yeah but look who they played" because that's what they always say.

In order to get ranked we have to be undefeated (or 1 loss)orBeat ranked opponents

That's always been the same.

And having one or even two good seasons isn't going to be enough to move us anywhere - look at WKU. Look at Marshall.

If we truly want to move out of this conference in the future, we not only have to boost our academic profile and build facilities at the level expected of that conference, but we have to bring enough fans to generate the revenue so we're not seen as "diluting the pot."

That could easily take a decade… and that's provided we continue to win and find the money to invest in all the capital projects we would need. If Kiffin leaves next year and we hire another dud, we're right back into Obscurityville.

Literally the most important hire we'll ever make (since Schnellenberger) is the person after Kiffin, whenever that may be.

100%. We've got the potential to become the school that up-and-coming coaches go to so that they can springboard into P5 jobs, similar to WKU, Memphis, etc. We've historically been the school that can't find anybody interested in us. I don't want to go back to hiring unproven line coaches at HC's.

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I wouldn’t complaint if we moved up but I realistically just want us to gain enough respect to get some good home and home P5 games. Dominate our conference in the major sports. Make the tournament now and then in basketball. I guess I really would like to see all of our teams have success along the lines of our baseball program. There is no shame in being the school that does more with less.

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I'd love to have home and home with power 5 teams. I think people would be pleasantly surprised with, if we hosted a school like Michigan or Penn State that we'd have a packed house of engaged fans. We've gained a ton of people in the area that follow and root for our program now. I wonder what's the ceiling with our football program in the next 10 years?

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Haha I don’t know if UF could get a home and home with those schools, but it would be cool. I was thinking more regional or lower tier like Georgia Tech, NC State, Maryland, Rutgers. Heck even FIU hosted Maryland and Indiana last year.

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Agree - we aren't going to get home-and-homes with those teams. We need to (and are planning on) series with programs like UCF and USF, find a partner from the SEC or ACC for a home-and-home long-term, and need to keep sprinkling in the likes of Wisconsin and Oklahoma. We should avoid series with other non-Florida G5 schools unless they are well-known (primarily the Service academies or other AAC schools like Houston). The key is to win or at least play very competitive in all of those games, and generate interest by having 2 or 3 schools coming into Boca every year that people have heard of and will come out and see. It probably isn't going to be a Michigan or FSU, but even losing 2 or 3 home games to "known" schools is ok assuming we get in position to take care of business in CUSA (which we have done for all of 1 season so far).

For perspective, a 10-3 conference champion who had played let's say UCF, Wisconsin, and NC State rather than Navy, Wisconsin, and Buffalo would be in the top-25 and going to a bigger bowl this year. Scheduling is done in advance and is not easy, but I'll trust if President Kelly wants us to be a mini-Clemson he totally gets all of this.